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<title>just like we were kids by DoctorFitzy (KittooningMalijah)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26056099">just like we were kids</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittooningMalijah/pseuds/DoctorFitzy'>DoctorFitzy (KittooningMalijah)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>for legal reasons, the american education system is a joke [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No SHIELD (Marvel), Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Gen, No Plot/Plotless, drabble prompt, meet cute</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:54:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>700</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26056099</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittooningMalijah/pseuds/DoctorFitzy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo didn't see the point in making friends, not when he was only going to be in the country for a semester. The universe, apparently, had a different plan for him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Leo Fitz &amp; Ophelia Sarkissian, Leo Fitz/Ophelia Sarkissian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>for legal reasons, the american education system is a joke [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1891504</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>just like we were kids</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>prompt: “Stop! Wait! You dropped your… um… are these crocs? You dropped your crocs!” High school Leophelia? for sherlolly-is-jolly on tumblr</p><p>yes, this prompt sat in my tumblr inbox for over a year, don't worry about it. yes, i can only develop full aus and i don't know what standalone one-shots are.</p><p>fic title from Kids Again by Artist vs Poet</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
  <span>Lifting his backpack up higher on his shoulder, Leo frowned and trudged through the halls of his still relatively new school. He'd been in the country again for two months, almost twice as long since his first trip to the States, and it felt even less like home than it did when he was a child. This time, he was expected to actually go to school and participate in society, and he was all too aware that it might be the only thing </span>
  <em>
    <span>worse</span>
  </em>
  <span> than spending weeks hidden away in a basement.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The sound of footsteps around him didn't so much as make him flinch, not when it was something he heard every single day, usually from people he didn't know who didn't care who he was or why he was there. It wasn't until he felt a hand on his shoulder that he reacted, and even that was only to twist out and away from the contact, his eyes wide with panic even when he picked up on the words that were being said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>"Stop! Wait! You dropped your... um... are these Crocs? You dropped your Crocs."</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Leo took a deep breath in an attempt to steady himself, staring at the girl who was holding up the offending beige shoes. A quick glance toward his backpack told him that the faulty zipper had come undone yet again and sent the things at the top of his bag tumbling to the ground when he shifted it - including the very things she was holding up in his face. Moving carefully, he took the shoes and avoided the almost-green eyes still fixed on him. "Thank you."</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He was ready to walk away, then, to take his things and get to his next class so that he would be that much closer to going back to the house for the night. At least, until she spoke up again.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>"You're new this year, right? The accent is a bit of a tip off." She flashed him a smile before extending her hand, likely expecting him to take it in the kind of familiar greeting that Americans are accustomed to. "I'm Ophelia."</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Leo dropped his gaze to her outstretched hand before making himself look at her face again and taking a deep breath. Meeting her gaze wasn't exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>difficult</span>
  </em>
  <span> once he pushed himself into doing it, but it still made him </span>
  <em>
    <span>uncomfortable</span>
  </em>
  <span>. No one had really cared to try to introduce themselves after the first week of school, and he hadn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever</span>
  </em>
  <span> been interested in making friends in this country. If everything went as planned, he would be back home by Christmas and none of these people would matter. So, he didn't shake her hand, instead tightening his hold on the Crocs and his backpack. "Oh... I'm Leo."</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Her smile didn't so much as flicker when she dropped her hand again, falling into step next to him when he started to walk. "And here I thought Crocs were out of fashion. Or, is it different in... Ireland?"</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Scotland</span>
  </em>
  <span>." The correction fell from his lips quickly while he shook his head, deciding against sending away the only friendly company he'd encountered since he'd started at the school. If she wanted to walk with him until they had to part ways for classes, she wasn't unwelcome. "And it isn't different; they're judged back home, too. That's why I have them, actually - I'm trying to keep them from my da so he'll stop wearing them."</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The sound that came from her was a laugh, in every definition of the word, but it was... somehow </span>
  <em>
    <span>different</span>
  </em>
  <span> from anything else he'd heard. "Okay, okay, that's fair. Parents can do some pretty embarrassing things, right?"</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>When they approached the door to the chemistry lab, Leo was ready to part ways, to maybe see her in the halls or at lunch, but to accept that the conversation was over. Only, when he opened the classroom door, Ophelia stepped forward and past him to enter first, and he could have sworn he saw her smirk when she glanced back at him over her shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>So, maybe his new friendly American acquaintance was in his advanced placement science class. He could live with that.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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